WWW vol.2

Monday was just a stiff day off really. Stiff just because of the tense physical day that just had passed. However met up with a German girl Iris who had a plan of going to Barossa Valley for a wine tour. As I had not yet been there myself, we decided to book the day trip for next day, it’s always better to have some company than no company. And as also nobody from my hostel, at least who I had been talking to was very keen about this idea then I just grabbed a chance of someone to go together with. The good thing about these organized trips is that you do not have to worry about getting there, not tasting too many good wines because you’re driving nor choosing out the wineries – everything has been done for you. So Tuesday morning at 8am I was picked up by the tourbus and after picking up the rest of the happy wineenthusiasts we were good to go. Almost. As it turned out the busdriver had some kind of a health issue which resulted in waiting for another driver to arrive. 

At Jacob's Creek

First up was well-known Jacob’s Creek winery, owned by Pernod Ricard Group. From there I bought myself a 2008 Limited Release Sangiovese which is not being sold in retail, just at cellar door. Good stuff!! Next up – Kies, a small family estate. From there I got a 2010 Sparkling Moscato. After that we paid a visit to Richmond Grove, another winery owned by Pernod Ricard. They ofcourse had some lovely wines there, but nothing of too much interest at that point because tummies (read: stomach) were already empty and a nice meal in a pub in Tanunda town was waiting.

Seppeltsfield 100yo

After lunch the highlight of the day – Seppeltsfield! This place is amazing! As you make your way towards the cellar door you drive along a few kilometers of road bordered by long palmtrees, over 2000 of them alltogether. The story behind those palmtrees is that when Australia was suffering from the Great Depression back in 1930’s the owner of the winery did not sack the employees but kept them occupied by planting the trees. As the economy got stronger, Seppeltsfield did not need to worry about finding and training necessary employees, instead they were quickly back on tracks. According to themselves, Seppeltsfield is the only winery in the world to have a barrel of fortified wine of every vintage since 1900. They actually sell them even dating back to as far as 1880! For tasting they offer exactly 100 year old wine, costing 30aud.

On the way back we did not make it without any problems either – the bus broke down and it resulted is all of us waiting for about 1 hour for a replacement. Made it back in one piece though, so all in all it was a good day out in the Barossa Valley!

On Wednesday I decided to head out from the city and booked another YHA hostel for 2 nights in Port Elliot, about an hours drive south. En-route I went through another popular wine region McLaren Vale and obviously could not resist stopping there. Went to Wirra Wirra and Leaconfield / Richard Hamilton Wines. Both again exceptionally good producers, at the first one I was very close to getting my hands on one of their awarded and noted The Absconder Grenache from 2010, but the pricetag of 65aud just set me back a little. Next stop Leconfield and I left the cellardoor with 2 Rieslings – 2011 Noble Riesling and 2011 Leconfield Old Wines Riesling. They were good and fairly different to those Rieslings you might usually get in Australia. Sweeter, yet still crisp and full of citrus characters. Got to love a good wine! J Next stop was Victor Harbor, which is here known for quite a few attractions – 

Fairy Penguins

Granite Island

Granite Island with the worlds’ smallest penguins; Horse Drawn Tram connecting Victor Harbor and Granite Island, it’s one of the few still left in the world for public service and a Cockle Train – a steam locomotive connecting Victor Harbor and Goolwa, including the oldest rail route in Australia, between Port Elliot and Goolwa. Also between June and September it is a popular place for whale spotting as they come to these waters to calve and mate. The town itself was nothing too special, just another nice costal town, the Granite Island without the Fairy Penguins (that’s what they are called) would have been just the same. However the penguins can usually be spotted during late hours as they return from sea, but the island also has a small research facility where penguins that have been hurt and cannot be release back into the wild are being taken care of. About 14 of them were out and about when it was due time to get a nice meal of fresh fish. The penguin is about 30cm tall and weighs 1,5kg, but some with less that 500g have also been spotted (and saved).

Just on the cliff there is a good hostel

Port Elliot YHA hostel is located on a B-E-A-utiful spot looking just over the Horseshoe Bay. It was a good escape from busy city life. Booked myself surf lesson for next day and enjoyed the evening with some tasty beers I bought along from Seppeltsfield (yeah, they also brew their own beer). Surfing however is good fun! Luckily our group that day consisted just of 3 people + the trainer, the weather was nice and sunny but not too warm and waves big enough for beginners. Another activity in the ist of „got to find time and equipment to improve my skills“. J And honestly, it is a good effort to spend 2 hours in the water trying to get the wave, stand up on the board and stay on there. That evening was quite a short one, just tired, but great emotions! As I drove back to Adelaide on Friday I caught myself thinking that this country has just too much to offer, too many great and extraordinary places, people, things to see and do.

On Friday I also got confirmation about me not going to travel to Melbourne on my own as I got a call from Stefania and Johann, a couple from Iceland who were interested in coming along and did not have a tight schedule. We met up in Port Dock Brewery in Port Adelaide to go through some details and agreed to head out Monday morning. Good stuff! J

WWW (Wine-Wine-Wine)

Friday 4th November was the last day at Oakville Potatoes and it was almost looking like the history would repeat itself as I was almost going to be pulling down some sand on the pivots again. Well, wasn’t quite that bad, I was just ploughing untill 2pm and then decided it was a good time to call it a day, pack my belongings into the car and head off to Adelaide. This time I decided to take a different route and avoid driving the highway. Instead I went a shorter yet slower route through the scenic Adelaide Hills, a bit futher north to where I had already been. Too bad I just don’t have a hot-hatchback car which would take me through the tight, winding road with a lot more fun. Still, it was a good fun and indeed a scenic drive!

Richie (manager) & me

Me & Andy

Before all that happened, there was the last week. I thought I’d try to get as many workhours as possible but all in all, it didn’t matter that much anyhow. Tuesday, the first Tuesday in November is the famous day of Melbourne Cup – the race that stops the nation they say. And it’s true! Melbourne Cup is a horserace and has a long history background here, therefore also very important. We finished work at 11am, had a shower and headed off to Nildottie Hall to see it all unfold. Didn’t think much, put on a t-shirt and shorts and drove up. Bad idea! As soon as I saw people arriving all dressed up – suits, shining shoes, women with long evening dresses and hats looking as they are heading to a royal wedding, I turned around to get changed again! And it was over 30 degrees that day. So back I was, wearing my best I have along, went in and was handed a complimentary greeting drink with sparkling wine and orange juice, glad it wasn’t vodka! After that it was ofcourse time to have beer, many of them. That’s the tradition and how could I not participate.

There were 6 races before the main event but no-one seemed to draw much attention to those – all that mattered was the final race. To make a long story short – I don’t get it! But I also do not know much of the history of that event either. Let’s just say there was another reason to get pissed again (read: get drunk).

On my last evening, Thursday, we, all the young generation employees met up at the pub for a nice last pubnight at Swan Reach. Apparently I had been a fairly good employee because Richie, our manager covered my food expences that night. What more to do than to finally try out a kangaroo steak. And being honest I quite liked it – nice and tenderly cooked, has a distinctive taste but all in all I suggest to have as I did – medium raw. Otherwise it’ll just be too dry and stiff.

Ooh, last weekend Andy and Pete got their sponsorships confirmed, so they are allowed to stay in Australia for at least 4 more year, and among other benefits they can also get finanzing, say for new cars. That's what they did, bought a new (used) car. Andy got himself a V8 Ford Falcon ute. Too bad I did not get to drive it myself, but luckily I got to sit on the passengerseat for a quick show-off! What an engine is a V8!! What and engine!

In Adelaide I had booked a place in a room of 6 in YHA hostel, the one I stayed in on my last visit 2 weeks before. It was nice a clean and quiet so why not. Thought to have an early night but remembered the Estonian House had the bar open so I decided to have look and get another Saku Kuld for a good night sleep. It turned out to be a good night as I met some other young fellow Estonians – Maret and Kristo. Had a good chat with them and Toomas, the barman was obviously enjoying a good night aswell because Vana Tallinn with milk was on the house that night. Good times! J Finished off the night early though because Saturday morning was the one I had long been waiting for – wine course at National Wine Centre!

9.20am and it was already very close to 30degrees as I was making my way to towards the venue. A quick chicken wrap with a coffee on the go and then I understood why it’s a good thing they also sell iced coffee here – my forehead was running with moisture at the first sip! Nontheless, 10min before the course start I had successfully survived the city jungle and the heat without too much sweating.

- Do you know why many of the premium wineries plant roses to either end of the winetree lines?

- Or why do vines not like wet feet?

- Or how long should you let a red wine „breathe“ before pouring it into a glass?

During the first day we went through whites and reds, how they are made, which methods in the make bring out which characteristics etc. Obviously too much information for anyone who starts the day off knowing there are 20 different wines to be tasted. And what wines – from large, wellknown producers to very small familiy owned ones, from 5aud to 60aud a bottle ones. But it is soo interesting and sooo good the get some knowledge about it! The group is 25 people of different age and background, a good and funny bunch. J

The day finished back in the hostel with hacing a great talk with two guys called Matt – one a Kiwi (read: New Zealand) backpacker aged 29 and a Queensland 24 year-old ex-soldier who had done 2 missions to Afgan and 2 other to East Timor. It was just overwhelming to hear what he had gone through and experienced and seen during that time!

Sunday morning began with a 7am wake up to get myself ready for a sporty, outdoorsy day. Liis and Jackson had invited me to come along to one of their friends’ cottage Tailem Bend by Murray River. As I had noticed before the river is among other things also a well-used recreational place for fishing and watersports – waterskiing, wakeboarding etc. When leaving the city the weather did not seem too promising but as it usually is here – city can be completely different to what happens behind the hills and by the river. Same story again. Arriving to Tailem Bend and the sun was shining, temperature had picked up, just the wind was a bit too strong yet that didn’t really bother anyone anyhow. A short while later and the boat was in the water, all necessary gear loaded into it and with everyone onboard the show began. Jackson’s friends were obviously experienced while as my last and first waterskiing experience dates back some 8 years I guess, also with two skies instead on single ski. So obviously that didn’t work for me. Nor did the wakeboard. Then again, I tried to get up from the water for about 5 times while as another guy who tried the same the day before could still not get up on the board after 20-25 times. But no worries, the water was suprisingly warm and I had my fun trying. Eventually I still managed to get afloat, but with an airfilled tube „biscuit“ towed behind the boat. And that was loads of fun!! They said that even the most grumpy man will be grinning after having a go with that. All in all – it was a really good day with new people, fun activities and Australian national drink – beer. J

Other stories in vol.2.

Good times!

A great weekend, just under 10 more days of farmwork left, expectation of the small roadtrip on Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne, uncertainty of what is yet to come. COOL!

Last Friday the Adelaide Estonian House hosted another pub night, this time around OctoberEST. It was a great night actually, especially because I met Liis and Jackson, a nice couple of similar age as me. She’s Estonian, he’s native Aussie (who is actually a native Aussie?). We had a good laugh and good talk, plenty of Saku Kuld beers accompanied by shots of Vana Tallinn and Viru Valge. J And Matt, another fellow at the bar that night could not really believe himself speaking German with me. Thrat required another shot of Vana Tallinn. I knew I was going to have a weary Saturday with a solid hangover, and it was all worth it! Even considering the morning after. Slept pretty much untill 2pm before I decided to go out and enjoy a sunny day at downtown Adelaide. Later that night I met up with Liis and Jackson again for a dinner at a chinese restaurant. I was a good fun, partly because they had their friends Adam and Dani along. As it turned out, Adam was on exchange in Sweden in 04/05 with YFU, so he was officially the first person here who I’ve met with a relation to YFU.

Sunday was a busy day heading back to Nildottie with the hope of getting my new car stereo and speakers installed. Decided to buy the whole package because what I previously had in there, we’ll let’s just say there was a box which produced some sounds. Nevertheless, it all started off nice before I understood I needed some washers to fasten the speakers. Despite my accurate measuring I had made a small mistake. Happens. The quick trip to work ended up having a good 6pack of beers, first at work as some colleagues had just finished off a hard days work and had a good beer and lateron at Ben’s house, our big manager who just invited the whole bunch over for a good arvo (read: afternoon) beer. Eventually I finished off my small DIY (Do It Yourself) project on Monday evening, successfully! Everything works and it’s good to have your own music coming from the speakers (thanks to a USB connection the stereo has). It all summed up to 268aud, which is far less than I was almost ready to spend.

Today is Tuesday, which means I have only 9 more days here before I head back to Adelaide. This time I really do plan not to come back here again. J Instead I’ll have the wine course on 5.Nov and 12.Nov and after that it’s a good road trip towards Victoria, Melbourne!

it's been a while...

... 3 weeks to be precise. The reason is I’ve been busy and lazy and not too much has happened within one week to write about. So it took me 3 to write again. J

This much has changed – I’ve got a housemate, Stephen, 25 from Ireland. To be honest he arrived just a couple of hours after I posted my last story. He’s alright, we get along well and most importantly it’s the fact of having some company.

A week after his arrival came a new change. We got a notice we need to move the house. Frankly that story about moving to a new place was around already long before I got to Nildottie in the first place, but as I’ve said, things to take (a lot of) time around here. The new place is about halfway from work, just some 500m away from Nildottie centre (read: store and hall) and 5min drive to work, instead of previous 10min drive. Outside it looked like another house which has not been used for a long while, but apparently it’s the way things actually do look here. The bright side is that it was all cleaned up and there is not too much to complain about. Except we still do not have a decent tv reception and the watertaps (except shower) are separate for hot and cold (which is precisely what you get – HOT and COLD).

truckdriver

At work I’ve had fairly busy days, last week we started planting potatoes again, which means 5am starts and about 12-14 hour days. The same will go on for a while so nice hours and good money is on it’s way. Meanwhile I have also registered myself on a winecourse in Adelaide taking place on Nov.5 and Nov.12. Therefore the last day of work here stays also firm – Nov.4 which means just 4 more weeks to go. After that, as I already said last time, it’s quite probable I will head towards Melbourne, have a look at the Great Ocean Road (http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Great-Ocean-Road.aspx & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ocean_Road) and probably spend about a week doing that. Whatever happens thereafter, well, we’ll see.

Also I will probably go to Adelaide in 2 weeks and attend another Esto Pub Night in Adelaide Estonian House. This time’s theme is OctoberEST.

Added some photos to picasa, so feel free to have a look. J

Never say never

As I left Nildottie some 1,5 months ago I stopped at a sign and made a photo of it – Farewell to Nildottie. Meanwhile thinking I was glad to put that part of my life behind me, yet not saying I will never come back. True that, because here I am once again. :)

Last time I mentioned about an interview I had lined up for Monday. It went well, but as everything here takes time, they also could not tell me if and when could they actually employ me. And as it was a public sector employer, well things might take even longer. So to keep myself busy I, among others, also called the recruitment agency who found me the farm work last time, and asked them if they had knowledge of any possible emploment opportunity near Adelaide or Melbourne area. Well they did – back here in Nildottie. To be honest I am not entirely happy about it but on the other hand, work is work and as long as it pays, I cannot complain. Moreover as the work itself is already familiar then now I am actually getting paid a bit more – farm hand level 2. It’s not much of a difference, but still something.

Other than that, nothing too much to say about, except... Within the first 2 days at work I already had 3 small issues – on Friday I somehow lost the dieseltank cork on the tractor I was working with, on Saturday I hit my head and got a small bleeding (nothing to worry about!) and later I managed to get a flat tyre. But as trouble always come in threes, then it should be enough for me. :)

What I have decided however, is that if anything else does not come along, I will be working here max up untill 4.Nov. After that I will take a wine course in Adelaide and spend another week there just enjoying the beach and hopefully surfing and thereafter I will try to move on towards Melbourne. But, as everything changes here with a short notice, then I will not promise anything either. :)

As it we are steadilyheading towards summer here then the temperatures have also changed a fair bit. Friday morning as I headed to work it was already nice and warm at 6.45AM. During the day we actually had 26 degrees. Satruday was even better - 33 degrees but a heavy wind made it just impossible to enjoy. Nevertheless, as I have been told, temperatures over 40 degrees are not incommon either. So let's wait and see what this place has to offer.

Catch you later and all the best!

show must go on

it's been about 2 months since the last post and i eventually felt like writing something again.

the last time i wrote was when i had just 2 more weeks to work. the last days were pretty agonizing just because of the anxiety of what was yet to come. but it felt good as one part of my life here was about to come to an end. my last day of work was pretty enjoyable and easy aswell, just spent a couple of hours ploughing and then headed off to the other farm. as the tractor is was using was needed elsewhere then my last job was to take it there - one last roadtrip. one my way back i had a nice chat with the manager of all 3 farms. an interesting fellow, has worked in farming since forever, has spent some 5 years working in farms in thailand, points out that current year was not that good in terms of export - just some 150 containers (40'' reefers) were sent to asia instead of 300+ containers last season! to me these numbers were a bit unbelievable - it's just ONE farm!

the last few days in adelaide before i departed towards estonia were fairly relaxing. managed to do some shopping, some further sightseeing and of course visited some more wineries! no wonder i have become to love this industry - every winetasting experience has been simply great! the visit to K1 (http://www.k1.com.au/) was just an undescribable experence to me. among many i got to taste a wine which was roughly a 200aud a bottle, which was an experiment gone great totalling a production of just 10 dozen bottles. how wonderful is that! :)

some wondered why i went home for a vacation and not to asia where i could have spent much less money and travelled a lot longer. well i don't know and frankly it doesn't matter either. i had a great time at home! it was the perfect way of spending a holiday! the time itself passed very quickly, it was full of various events, a weeks trip to germany and quality time with family and friends. but the aussie experience must go on and here i am, back in adelaide, once again looking for work, for things to do and people to get to know. once again it's a beginning of all new and farewell to all familiar and known. however i think and feel that this is what makes life worth living.

p.s. cross your fingers as i have a job interview coming up on monday ;)

2 more weeks of farmwork

Today in 2 weeks time I’ll be in Adelaide, probably enjoying a nice morning coffee and curing a small hangover. J And in 3 weeks time I’ll already be back home among the beloved ones, having had a long waited sauna with a couple of beers. J Untill that time I still have 11 more days to work here. In 7 weeks time again back Down Under, being free as the wind and seeing where it takes me.

Meanwhile it has been the usual business here – work, all kinds of jobs, all kinds of weather. Except for one small highlight. Last weekend in Adelaide. The previous time I visited Kent and Tiina, they suggested that I’d come back to Adelaide on July 8th because that’s when Esto Pub Night #18 will take place in Eesti Maja. And I obviously could not miss that. Friday was a short day at work, had to finish early enough to get to Murray Bridge first to sort out the registration of my car. Unfortunately I still have to make another trip Murray Bridge now on Monday as I failed to present a proof of residential address where I stayed. As it turns out Service SA (similar to our ARK, but you do all kinds of registrations and governmental things there) needs to have a written document showing my residential address here in state South Australia. Lucky me, Tiina works in a bank and they have a certain form just for that, so now on Monday I’ll be able to finally state that this car belongs to me.

The current house of Eesti Maja has belonged to the Estonian community since 1958. Upon entering the house and especially the main hall, you find yourself in a building as if it was a older town hall in a small town or borough – varnished wooden walls, arms of (Estonian) cities, counties and families, posters in Estonian about events and parties, old maps in wooden frames. And the upper shelves at the bar counter filled with all types of Estonian liqueur (all empty of course), funny and familiar posters, signs. It felt like being back home. Except for the one small difference. Most of the people spoke in English. Apart from the oldest members of the community who in fact still, after living most of their life in Australia, speak excellent fluent Estonian. That was a suprise to me! It was a great time there, meeting interesting people, both with Estonian origin and elsewhere. For example Clint who is of asian origin, lived in Võru for 3 years together with an Estonian girl, but broke up with her because he would not have made it there working on his occupation – tradie (read: a specialist in building, tiling, plumming etc) and she did not want to move over to Aussie. He was introduced as: „It’s Clint, he lived in Estonia, but his girlfriend ran off with his washing machine“. J To make the long story short, the evening consisted of pleasant conversations, a typical estonian peasoup, plenty of drinks, incl. Viru Valge, unfortunately no Estonian beer which was still stuck in customs in Melbourne (wrong choice of logistics provider I’d say), useful new contacts and most important of all – a great time out! J Have a look at the gallery of the event. To finish the night appropriately, Richard, one of the key figures in the Estonian community these days, suggested to have a couple of more drinks at his place. Without knowing it yet, we headed to one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Adelaide. A great wine in a great looking study of an expensive, just about 3,5mln dollar house seemed like a fair plan. J Getting there was easy – just call a dialer driver and soon a car with a spare driver stopped in front of Eesti Maja and off we went. I think dialer driver is a wonderful service – you never know when going out how the evening will turn out, but when going with your car there’s always the dilemma of either leaving the car in town and struggling to get it home the next day or not enjoying a nice evening with good company and a couple of drinks.

As Saturday morning was a bit hangoverish, what would be better idea to get rid of it than going out to Glenelg (established in 1836, it is the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia), the popular seaside suburb of Adelaide for a couple of dozen of oysters! This is my new best hangover treatment. J If only it was summertime and and one of those many-million-dollar-boats was about to take out on the sea...

On my way back to Nildottie I decided to have a quick stop in Hahndorf – the first and oldest surviving German settlement in Australia dating back to 1839. As it is the most popular town in Adelaide Hills, I thought to go and have a look and why not enjoy a good cup of coffee with a piece of cake. Haven’t had a cake since I moved to SA. Although it’s winter and it was Sunday, there were plenty of tourists around which the locals described as a really quiet day. J However, I was somehow expecting a bit more from it. Maybe a nice 1L jug of genuine Warsteiner beer would have helped.

P.S. Lodging a tax declaration here is a pain in the buttocks, despite the fact that e-tax has made it a LOT easier according to the locals.